(Anderson, S.C. – January 1, 2025) – When a young, autistic, non-verbal girl arrived at AnMed with a serious illness recently, she was in great need. Pain and fever were apparent though she could not tell anyone what was wrong with her.
She was initially diagnosed with hand, foot and mouth disease, a common illness in children caused by coxsackievirus, but investigation continued as the child’s condition failed to improve.
Paige Fuhrer and Lori White, teammates in AnMed’s laboratory services department, wasted no time nor expertise in studying a blood culture from the child. They recognized something very slightly unusual that led to more study and more work – and ultimately a rare find often missed by laboratories around the world.
With great diligence, the help of a Bruker mass spectrometry device and collaboration with Dr. Kristopher Gross, a family medicine resident, they identified what was wreaking havoc: streptobacillus moniliformis, otherwise known as rat-bite fever.
The team’s skill and commitment to medical excellence set the girl to make a full recovery.
Fuhrer and White were named AnMed’s Stars of the Year as honors for clinical excellence were distributed throughout the health system.
AnMed earns honors for clinical excellence
AnMed earned an “A” Hospital Safety Grade from The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit watchdog organization, as well as 11 Certified Zero Harm Awards from the South Carolina Hospital Association in 2024.
The health system won five quality achievement awards from the American Heart Association’s “Get with the Guidelines” program in 2024.
AnMed’s mammography team achieved accreditations in mammography, stereotactic breast biopsy, breast ultrasound and MRI to become an ACR Designated Comprehensive Breast Imaging Center of Excellence.
Other reaccreditations, quality certifications and independent evaluations came throughout 2024 as AnMed was among only 604 health systems in the nation to boast recognition in the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Magnet program, the highest national honor for professional nursing.
New procedures and innovations advance care
By the year’s halfway point, AnMed surpassed 100 patients served with the Ion endoluminal system, Intuitive's robotic-assisted platform for minimally invasive biopsy in the lung. Faster and more accurate diagnoses of lung cancer even for formerly very-difficult-to-reach areas have come thanks to the exceptionally precise tool.
Use of the new PulseSelect™ Pulsed Field Ablation System from Medtronic began early in 2024. Much quicker, safer and more effective treatment of atrial fibrillation has come thanks to the revolutionary tool.
And another new treatment for atrial fibrillation also began in 2024 as the first robotic standalone surgical maze procedure in the state of South Carolina was performed at AnMed. The minimally invasive procedure is used to treat atrial fibrillation and does not require opening the patient’s chest or stopping the heart, as is traditionally done for heart surgery. This results in significantly less discomfort, a quicker recovery and much lower risk than traditional heart surgery.
The procedure not only reduces the risk of stroke, dementia and heart failure from atrial fibrillation, but it can greatly improve quality of life with respect to stamina and energy level.
It adds to AnMed’s catalog of the most advanced heart treatments in Upstate South Carolina. It’s among an array of innovative procedures that are among options for treatment and services found nowhere else in the Upstate.
More progressive ventures and initiatives are in the works for the months to come.
